


Facsimile

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Episode Related, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 16:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14814741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: While cleaning up after the crisis in "The Android Invasion," the Doctor is troubled by one certain android.





	Facsimile

 “Doctor?” came Benton’s voice through the radio in the Doctor’s hand.

 “Yes, Sergeant?”

 “Is Miss Smith with you?” As the Timelord opened the door to look out into the corridor of the Space Defense Station, Benton continued, “It’s just that one of my men reported that they found her… double standing in the forest. But, she’s not completely frozen like the others. I just want to check with you first.”

 The Doctor saw Sarah talking with Harry, and turned back into the control room. “Yes, Benton, she’s here.”

 “Then I’ll tell me men to put the double with the others for destruction?”

 “Yes, yes, do it,” the Doctor answered, more harshly than needed.

 “Yes, sir. Benton out.”

 The Doctor let out a long breath and absentmindedly spun a chair in front of a panel around a few times. He wondered what the android Sarah had been doing in the forest when he had frozen all of them. He wondered if his double had told her to stay there where it was safer, while he came in to engage everyone at the station… something he would’ve done with the real Sarah. If the androids had most of their brain patterns… well, it wasn’t impossible they would act like it with each other.

 The Doctor stopped spinning the chair to heavily sit in it. A moment later, the door opened, and he could tell it was Sarah by her footsteps before she spoke.

 “How’s the clean-up operation going?” she asked.

 “As expected, I suppose,” the Doctor answered quietly.

 “I know that tone,” Sarah responded.

 “Hm?”

 Sarah turned the chair so that the man was facing her. “I know that look, too. You’re distracted, and something’s troubling you.”

 The Doctor didn’t deny it. He patted her hand on the armrest of the chair, and said with a little smile, “You know me so well.”

 Sarah bent down to be eye-level with the Timelord. “What’s the matter? We helped save the day, again. Benton’s rounding up the rest of the androids. We didn’t have any UNIT casualties. And other than that nasty trick you played with your double in the rocket, it wasn’t too trying.”

 “Yes, I am sorry for that.”

 “But, that’s not what’s bothering you.”

 The Doctor shook his head, and pulled Sarah in to sit on his lap. He took a deep breath, then stated, “They made an android of you.”

 “I know. I saw it briefly, near the Tardis soon after we landed on Earth. It was with your double.”

 “I had a rather longer encounter with her- it on the Kraal homeworld.”

 “Oh?”

 The Doctor wrapped his arms around Sarah and rested his forehead against her shoulder. “Styggron had sent it to me, maybe to test me, or kill me. Whatever the reasoning was, it was… quite unnerving. I knew instantly that it wasn’t you. The android was wearing the scarf that I had taken from you, and it didn’t hesitate to drink my ginger pop.”

 Sarah made a disgusted face at the mention of the drink.

 “Exactly,” the Doctor replied. “But, other than those two small details… well, it was really an almost perfect facsimile. It looked just like you, sounded just like you.”

 “But you knew it wasn’t me.”

 “That didn’t stop me from trying to find any other flaws, and being disturbed when I didn’t.”

 “What did you do?”

 “I played along, until we got to the spot where the Tardis should’ve been. Then I confronted her- confronted it. The android pulled a gun on me. I disarmed it, and demanded to know where you were, and what had been done to you.” He shuddered at the memory of what happened next. Sarah prompted him to go on in his own time with a hand playing with the hair on the side of his head.

 After a moment, the Doctor continued, “Then it broke my grip and fell to the ground. That’s when it’s face fell off.”

 “It’s face…?”

 “Yes, exposing all the mechanical bits inside.”

 Sarah shivered at the image.

 “All I could do was stare, then run away. I heard gunshots following me, so it must’ve picked up the gun and started firing at me.” The man shook his head. “That was the last I saw of it.”

 Sarah’s hand on the Doctor’s head stilled. “The short time I was with yours when I found the Tardis was bad enough. But, there’s more to your encounter, isn’t there?”

 The Doctor looked up into Sarah’s eyes, that beautiful hazel colour that he could get lost in. He cleared his throat before saying, “I should’ve done something other than immediately run away, and allow it to cause more trouble. I should’ve tried to deactivate it with the sonic screwdriver, looked for an off switch, or at the very least take the gun away. I didn’t do any of those things.”

 “I don’t blame you for running. I ran from yours without trying anything.”

 “I had it in a vulnerable position. I should’ve done something to it. But, I… I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her, to hurt something that looked like you. Even though its face had fallen off… it was still… too much to bear to hurt it.” He nuzzled his head against Sarah’s shoulder. “For comparison, I had no problem doing harm to the android of me.”

 “I suppose… that makes sense.”

 “I can’t bring myself to harm anything that looks like you, even when it wants to kill me, and it… doesn’t quite look like you anymore.”

 “That’s alright. Everything turned out fine in the end without you having to do that.”

 “What if it didn’t, because I couldn’t disable that android?”

 Sarah tilted her head, and gently rubbed her thumb across the Timelord’s cheek. “You’re not one for what-ifs. But, I do get it. If I had the one of you in a vulnerable position… I don’t know if I could’ve done something to it. I think I still would’ve just run.” Sarah put her other hand over the Doctor’s on her thigh, and interlocked their fingers together. “If that’s any comfort to you.”

 The Doctor only hummed and closed his eyes, inhaling the flowery scent of Sarah’s shampoo.

 A minute later, the pair looked to the door as Benton came in. The sergeant did have a slightly uncomfortable expression at realizing he’d interrupted a tender moment between them. Still, he reported, “They’re bringing in the last few androids now, including…” his eyes flickered over Sarah for an instant, and he cleared his throat. “Do you want to make sure they’re destroyed?”  

 “I already showed you how to do it with Styggron’s gun. If there’s anything left, throw it in a fire. I’m sure you can handle it, Sergeant,” the Doctor answered.

 “Of course, Doctor. The sooner the better. They unnerve me.”

 “I think they have that effect on all of us,” Sarah responded.

 “Indeed,” Benton agreed before leaving.

 Sarah waited a moment before saying, “They must’ve found the one of me, then.”

 The Doctor nodded. “Benton reported that before you came in. And well… I don’t need to see that.”

 “Neither do I.” Sarah kissed the man’s forehead.

 “What do you say we head outside?”

 Sarah drew back. “I hope you don’t mean to sneak off to the Tardis and leave Harry and Benton without saying goodbye.”

 “That’s not my intention. I just want to find a nice spot to relax, in the real forest with real trees and real grass… and the real Sarah.”

 Sarah smiled softly. “That does sound nice.” She stood and helped the Doctor up to his feet. “No facsimiles here.”

 “Exactly.” The Doctor bent his head and pulled Sarah into a kiss. Then he took Sarah’s hand and headed out the door. He assured, “No facsimiles here.”


End file.
